Mouthpiece

ABSTRACT

A non-combustion smoking tool, which uses a real filter cigarette as it is, and which vaporizes nicotine from the tobacco leaves without lighting the product to enable inhalation of the vaporized nicotine, has a problem that a smoker cannot take in 100% of the vaporized nicotine. Thus, a mouthpiece is designed to have an air flow control structure or an air flow control element, or to be combined with a cigarette guide tube, so as to enable the mouthpiece to vary the rate at which the nicotine vaporized from the tobacco leaves is taken in.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a mouthpiece provided fornon-combustion smoking tools and used in combination with anon-combustion smoking tool of Japanese Patent Application 2009-049879or Japanese Patent Application 2009-293338 made by the present applicant(each hereinafter referred to as “tool—of the earlier application of thepresent application”), a non-combustion cigarette system disclosed inJapanese Translation of PCT Application 2009-509521 or a pipe-typenon-combustion smoking tool.

BACKGROUND ART

The “tool of the earlier application of the present application” and thenon-combustion smoking tools disclosed in Patent Document 3and PatentDocument 4 have been proposed to improve various problems of a normalsmoking method to light tobacco leaves for smoking, and are tools which,while using a generally commercially available cigarette or cigar as itis, can vaporize nicotine from the tobacco leaves at a suitabletemperature to enable inhalation without burning the tobacco leaves,making it possible to inhale it.

PRIOR ART DOCUMENT(S) Patent Document(s)

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application 2009-049879

Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application 2009-293338

Patent Document 3: Japanese Translation of PCT Application 2009-509521

Patent Document 4: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication Hei 6-114105

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problem(s) to be Solved by the Invention

When the tool of the earlier application of the present application andthe non-combustion smoking tool proposed in Patent Document 3 wereactually used by inserting a filter cigarette therein, the followingproblems were found.

By heating the tobacco leaves with a heater, nicotine is vaporized fromthe tobacco leaves. However, when inhaled through the filter similarlyas when normally smoking by lighting them, most of the nicotinevaporized out of the tobacco leaves by heating the tobacco leaves isabsorbed by the filter, so that a smoker can inhale only a small amountof nicotine vaporized out of the tobacco leaves.

Further, when the smoker wants to take in more nicotine, it is necessaryto increase the heating temperature, for example about to 200° C. to240° C., so as to increase the vaporization speed of nicotine from thetobacco leaves. However, when heated at such a high temperature, thetobacco leaves get burned to add burning smell, thereby not only harmingthe flavor, but also ending the vaporization of nicotine from thetobacco leaves in a short time.

In the non-combustion smoking tool proposed in Patent Document 4, afilter cigarette is heated from the outside by a cylindrical heater.Thus, upon actual inhalation, the paper of the filter cigarette is firstheated to vaporize harmful substances from the wrapping paper, so that amixture of the harmful substances and nicotine vaporized from thetobacco leaves is supplied to the smoker.

In addition, according to the non-combustion smoking tool proposed inPatent Document 4, a problem has been found that upon continuousinhalation, most of hot air heated by the cylindrical heater passesthrough the space between the inner surface of the cylindrical heaterand the outer surface of the inserted cigarette because the airresistance in the tobacco leaves is high, causing only the hot air to bebrought to the mouth of the smoker without heating the inserted tobaccoleaves.

Means to Solve the Problem(s)

According to the present invention, a mouthpiece having a novelstructure has been conceived to solve the above problems which arecaused when the tool of the earlier application of the presentapplication described above or the non-combustion smoking tool proposedin Patent Document 3 is used for a filter cigarette.

Further, a mouthpiece has been conceived, such that in the mouthpiecehaving the novel structure, a hole is formed on the surface of the airflow control structure or the air control element which contacts thefilter so as to produce an air flow through the filter, allowing thefilter to absorb a part of produced nicotine.

Further, it has been found that the combination of a cigarette guidetube with the mouthpiece having the novel structure makes it easier tomake a non-combustion smoking tool, and provides an easy-to-usemouthpiece with an attached cigarette guide tube.

Effect of the Invention

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of an example of a mouthpiece usedas a mouthpiece having a novel structure adopted in the presentinvention. In the mouthpiece having the novel structure, an air flowcontrol element is formed between an inhalation inlet and a filter of aninserted filter cigarette. If the air flow control element has nothrough-hole, air passing through the filter part cannot directly reachthe inhalation inlet when a smoker inhales through the mouthpiece. Thus,when the smoker inhales, nicotine vaporized from the tobacco leaves byheating the tobacco leaves goes out of the wrapping paper of thetobacco, and passes through a space formed between an inner wall of anon-combustion smoking tool and the wrapping paper of the tobacco andthe filter, and further passes through the air control element so as tobe brought to the inhalation inlet. This is advantageous because, due tothe air flow containing the nicotine, the nicotine vaporized from thetobacco leaves is prevented from being absorbed by the filter, so thatthe smoker can inhale most of the nicotine vaporized from the tobaccoleaves.

Further, it is advantageous to form a hole on the filter-contactingsurface of the air control element of the mouthpiece having the novelstructure adopted in the present invention, because it produces an airflow flowing through the filter, making it possible to allow the filterto absorb an appropriate amount of nicotine vaporized from the tobaccoleaves, and thus to allow the smoker to inhale the vaporized nicotinewith a desired concentration.

Further, FIG. 8, FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 show cross-sectional views of otherexamples of mouthpieces having the novel structure adopted in thepresent invention, in which each of them has an advantage that the rateat which the filter absorbs the produced nicotine can be controlledbetween zero and an arbitrary rate.

Further, the combination of a cigarette guide tube with thesemouthpieces having the novel structure is advantageous because itprovides easy-to-use mouthpieces with an attached cigarette guide tube.

Further, in the mouthpiece having the novel structure adopted in thepresent invention and provided with the attached cigarette guide tube,it is advantageous to bend an end of the cigarette guide tube inwardbecause the mouthpiece with the attached cigarette guide tube can betaken out of the non-combustion smoking tool together with the insertedfilter cigarette.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is an appearance view when a filter cigarette set in a mouthpieceof EXAMPLE 1 of the present application is about to be inserted into thetool of the earlier application of the present application.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the tool of the earlier applicationof the present application.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the mouthpiece of EXAMPLE 1 of thepresent application.

FIG. 4 is an appearance view of an example of an air flow controlelement of the mouthpiece of EXAMPLE 1 of the present application.

FIG. 5 is an appearance view of another example of an air flow controlelement of the mouthpiece of EXAMPLE 1 of the present application.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view when the filter cigarette set in themouthpiece of EXAMPLE 1 of the present application is inserted into thetool of the earlier application of the present application.

FIG. 7 is an appearance view of a mouthpiece and an appearance view ofan air flow control element of EXAMPLE 2 of the present application.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the mouthpiece of EXAMPLE 2 of thepresent application.

FIG. 9 is an appearance view of the air flow control element used in themouthpiece of EXAMPLE 2 of the present application.

FIG. 10 is an appearance view of an air flow control element used in themouthpiece of EXAMPLE 2 of the present application.

FIG. 11 is an appearance view of a mouthpiece of EXAMPLE 3 of thepresent application.

FIG. 12 is a side view of the mouthpiece of EXAMPLE 3 of the presentapplication.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the mouthpiece of EXAMPLE 3 of thepresent application.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of a mouthpiece of EXAMPLE 4 of thepresent application.

FIG. 15 is an appearance view when a filter cigarette set in amouthpiece of EXAMPLE 4 of the present application is about to beinserted into a pipe-type non-combustion smoking tool.

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view when the filter cigarette insertedinto the mouthpiece of EXAMPLE 4 of the present application is insertedinto the pipe-type non-combustion smoking tool.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view when a filter cigarette inserted intothe mouthpiece of EXAMPLE 3 of the present application is inserted intoa pipe-type non-combustion smoking tool.

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view when the filter cigarette is set inthe mouthpiece of EXAMPLE 3 of the present application, and a cigaretteguide tube is set therein.

FIG. 19 is a view where a cigarette guide tube A is inserted in FIG. 18to reduce space between the cigarette part and the cigarette guide tube.

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view of a mouthpiece with an attachedcigarette guide tube formed by setting the cigarette guide tube in themouthpiece of EXAMPLE 2 of the present application and placing a spacertherein.

FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view when a filter mouthpiece is set in themouthpiece of EXAMPLE 2 of the present application, and a shortenedcigarette guide tube is set therein.

FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view when a filter cigarette set in themouthpiece of EXAMPLE 4 of the present application and having acigarette guide tube attached thereto is set into the pipe-typenon-combustion smoking tool.

FIG. 23 is a cross-sectional view of a heating heater and an electroniccircuit used in the pipe-type non-combustion smoking tool shown in FIG.17.

FIG. 24 is an appearance view of the heating heater shown in FIG. 23.

FIG. 25 is an example of a mechanism to make variable the area of a holeto determine the rate at which the filter absorbs nicotine.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, detailed description will be made with reference to thedrawings, giving a commercially available filter cigarette as an examplefor the present invention.

Before the description, the background where the present invention wasmade will be described. The present inventor developed non-combustionsmoking tools and conducted monitoring experiments. However, the opinionof the monitors did not seem to be that they could take in nicotine.When the heating temperature was increased to about 200 to 240° C.,their only feeling was that initially they could take in nicotine alittle, but even that disappeared in a few minutes.

Thus, for the effect of filters of normal commercially available filtercigarettes, the present inventor has used commercially available “MILDSEVEN 10” and a gas chromatography mass spectrometer (TG-GC/MS) toperform measurements of the amount of nicotine taken in, depending onthe presence or absence of a filter, according to a normal smokingmethod to light them. It has been found that based on 15.463 mg in thecase of the absence of a filter and 0.775 mg in the case of the presenceof a filter, 95% of nicotine produced is in fact absorbed by a filter.In other words, it has been found that even when the tool of the earlierapplication of the present application is used to vaporize nicotine fromthe inserted tobacco leaves, the nicotine produced passes through thefilter to cause about 95% thereof to be absorbed by the filter and onlyabout 5% thereof to be supplied to the smoker. Thus, it has been foundthat the reason why the monitors of the tool of the earlier applicationof the present application do not feel taking in nicotine is thenicotine absorption effect of the filter.

A normal smoking method to light tobacco leaves for smoking bums tobaccoleaves or a wrapping paper, thereby producing much harmful substances toa human body such as tar and carbon monoxide in addition to nicotine.Thus, a filter is required to prevent these harmful substances frombeing taken in the body. However, it has been found that in the tool ofthe earlier application of the present application or the non-combustionsmoking tool as disclosed in Patent Document 3, which hardly producessuch harmful substances and produces only pure nicotine, a filter onlyserves to extremely reduce the amount of the produced nicotine which istaken in.

Considering these occurring, the tool of the earlier application of thepresent application is designed to be usable even if the filter of thefilter cigarette is removed.

However, although a filter may be unnecessary, it is laborious to smokeafter removing the filter when using a non-combustion smoking tool. Thepresent application has been conceived to enable a smoker tosufficiently take in nicotine produced by heating tobacco leaves when anon-combustion smoking tool is used with a filter cigarette as it is.

Various structures of the mouthpieces according to the present inventionwill be described in detail with the drawings in EXAMPLES 1, 2, 3 and 4.Their structures and features will be described sequentially below, butthese are used to describe the present invention concretely, and thepresent invention is not limited by these as long as the subject matterdescribed in the patent claims is embodied.

EXAMPLE 1

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of a mouthpiece of EXAMPLE 1 of thepresent application. The mouthpiece 1 comprises an inhalation inlet 2,an air flow control element 3 and a filter housing part 4. As shown inFIG. 4, the air flow control element 3 comprises a combination of twocomponents 31 and 34. The outer diameter of the component 31 is designedto be substantially the same as the inner diameter of the filter housingpart 4. The outer diameter of the component 34 is designed to besubstantially equal to or smaller than the outer diameter of thecomponent 31, and equal to or larger than the diameter of an axial hole32. The mouthpiece 1 has an outer diameter designed to tightly fit aninsertion opening 103 of the non-combustion smoking tool shown in FIGS.1 and 2 so as to prevent air leakage.

FIG. 5 shows an appearance view of another example of an air controlcomponent 3. This air control component 3 has a shape similar to anormal gear, and comprises six gear teeth 37 and an axial hole 38. Theouter diameter of the gear teeth 37 is made substantially equal to theinner diameter of the filter housing part 4. It is needless to say thatthe number of gear teeth is not limited to six as shown, but can be anarbitrary number as a usable one.

FIG. 1 is a view immediately before a commercially available filtercigarette (filter part 20 and cigarette part 21) set in the mouthpiece 1shown in FIG. 3 is inserted into an insertion opening 103 of a tool 100of the earlier application of the present application. FIG. 2 is across-sectional view of the tool 100 of the earlier application of thepresent application shown in FIG. 1. This tool comprises a printedcircuit board 111 with a built-in electronic circuit, a heater 110, athermal insulation material 9 and a plastic case. Mounted on the printedcircuit board 111 are a connector 112, a switch 113, a preset variableresistor 115, a microcomputer 116 for reading their set values tocontrol the amount of heating power to the heater 110, an outputtransistor 117 for supplying power to the heater, an LED 118 fordisplaying an operational state of this circuit, and other electroniccomponents. A DC voltage (3 to 12 V) is supplied to this circuit throughthe connector from a battery, a rechargeable battery, an AC adapter, aDC power supply, a car cigarette power supply, or the like. 103 is aninsertion opening, while 105 is an air inlet. FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 ofPatent Document 2 describes in detail a specific circuit diagram andvoltage waveforms applied to a heater.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view when the filter cigarette set in themouthpiece shown in FIG. 3 is inserted into the tool 100 of the earlierapplication of the present application.

First, FIG. 6 is used to describe the case where a hole 35 of FIG. 4 oran axial hole 38 of FIG. 5 is not present. A cigarette part 21 of thefilter cigarette allows the heater 110 in the non-combustion smokingtool 100 to be inserted therein, and is heated by the heater orpreheated by a linear part of the heater. Since the end surface of thefilter part 21 is covered with the air flow control element 3, nicotinevaporized from the tobacco leaves by the hot air heated by the coil partof the heater upon inhalation by a smoker cannot pass through the filterpart 21, and thus passes through the wrapping paper to go out of thewrapping paper and pass through a space between an inner surface of thethermal insulation material 9 and the wrapping paper. The nicotine thenpasses through a space between an inner surface of the mouthpiece 1 andan outer surface of the filter part 20, which in the case of FIG. 4further passes through the axial hole 32 via windows 33 of the air flowcontrol element 3 so as to be brought to the mouth of the smoker throughthe inhalation inlet 2, and which in the case of FIG. 5 further passesthrough the gear teeth 37 of an air flow control element 36 so as to bebrought into the mouth of the smoker through the inhalation inlet 2.

Thus, it has been found that the nicotine vaporized and extracted fromthe inserted tobacco leaves is not absorbed by the filter of the filtercigarette, and substantially 100% of the produced nicotine is broughtinto the mouth of the smoker.

Next, the case where the hole 35 of FIG. 4 and the axial hole 38 of FIG.5 are present will be described. A cigarette part 21 of the filtercigarette allows the slender heater 110 in the non-combustion smokingtool 100 to be inserted therein, and is heated by the heater orpreheated by the linear part of the heater. Nicotine vaporized from thetobacco leaves by the hot air heated by the coil part of the heater uponinhalation by a smoker passes through the wrapping paper from a centralportion to go out of the wrapping paper and pass through the spacebetween the inner surface of the thermal insulation material 9 and thewrapping paper. The nicotine then passes through a space between theinner surface of the mouthpiece 1 and the wrapping paper of the filter,and further passes through the axial hole 32 via the windows 33 of theair flow control element 3 so as to be brought to the mouth of thesmoker through the inhalation inlet 2, or alternatively passes throughthe gear teeth 37 of the air flow control element 36 so as to be broughtto the mouth of the smoker through the inhalation inlet 2. If the hole35 and the axial hole 38 are present, a part of the nicotine vaporizedfrom the tobacco leaves can pass through the hole 35 or the axial hole38 through the cigarette part 21 and through the filter part 20, thusproducing a flow of nicotine, as well, that reaches the mouth of thesmoker while a part of the nicotine is absorbed by the filter.

In this case, it has been found that it is possible to control theamount of air flow through this path by changing the hole diameter ofthe hole 35 and the axial hole 38, consequently making it possible tocontrol the amount of the produced nicotine which is absorbed by thefilter.

More specifically, it has been found that by varying the hole diameterof the hole 35 and the axial hole 38 between zero and substantially theouter diameter of the filter, the rate at which the filter absorbs thenicotine vaporized and extracted by heating the tobacco leaves can bevaried between zero and the intrinsic absorption rate of the filter,which is very effective because the smoker can smoke with a desiredconcentration.

Here, it is needless to say that the shapes of the windows 33 and thegear teeth 37 are not limited to those shown, and can have any size andshape if they have a function to allow air to flow.

EXAMPLE 2

FIG. 7 shows an appearance view of a mouthpiece of EXAMPLE 2 of thepresent application. FIG. 8 is an A-A′ cross-sectional view of FIG. 7.This mouthpiece comprises a mouthpiece outer case, an air flow controlelement 3-1 and a filter housing part 4.

As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the mouthpiece 1 has two slits 6. Theslits 6 serve to guide produced nicotine to the inhalation inlet 2, andfacilitate insertion into the non-combustion smoking tool or facilitateinsertion of a cigarette guide tube 10 by allowing the outer diameter ofthe mouthpiece 1 to be virtually reduced when the mouthpiece 1 ispressed from outside upon insertion into the non-combustion smoking toolor upon insertion of the cigarette guide tube 10 into the mouthpiece 1as described later. Although FIG. 7 describes the case of two, the sameeffect can be obtained with three or more.

Further, the slits have length L1 which is designed to be longer thaninsertion length L2 of the filter cigarette in the mouthpiece 1 as shownin FIG. 8. For inserting the filter cigarette set in the mouthpiece intothe non-combustion smoking tool, the entire length of the slits 6 isrequired to be inserted into the tool through the insertion opening 103.In addition, the mouthpiece 1 is required to have an outer diameter totightly fit the insertion opening 103 to prevent air leakage.

The air flow control element 3-1 has four holes 7 (which can be anynumber) and a rod 8 for positioning the insertion position of theinserted filter cigarette. The rod 8 has a function to position theinsertion position of the inserted filter cigarette. Further, the rod 8has another function. Similarly as in the hole 35 shown in FIG. 4 andthe axial hole 38 shown in FIG. 5, the rate at which the filter 20absorbs a part of the nicotine extracted from the tobacco leaves can bevaried by varying the hole diameter of the rod 8. FIG. 7 shows anotherair flow control element 3-2. This example designs a rod 8 with a largerend portion. If the diameter of this end portion is made substantiallyequal to the diameter of the filter cigarette, substantially 100% ofnicotine produced by heating the inserted cigarette is brought to themouth of the smoker without being absorbed by the filter part. By makingthe diameter of the end portion of the rod 8 smaller than the diameterof the filter part, the produced nicotine can be absorbed by the filterat an arbitrary rate.

The air flow control elements 3, 3-1, 3-2 have been described above asseparate elements. However, when making the mouthpiece 1, it is easy tomake mouthpiece molds to produce similar effects. Thus, it is needlessto say that they can be made either as separate elements to be combinedwith the mouthpiece, or made integrally with the mouthpiece.

Further, the present inventor has made the air flow control elements 3,3-1, 3-2 described above and so on, and has conducted experiments. Ifthe hole 35 or the hole 38 is not present, or if the rod 8 issubstantially equal in diameter to the filter, it has been found thatsubstantially 100% of nicotine vaporized from the cigarette part 21enters the mouth of the smoker when the smoker inserts the filtercigarette to allow the front end of the filter of the filter cigaretteto tightly contact these elements, while when the filter cigarette isnot inserted to tightly contact these elements, a part of nicotinevaporized from the cigarette part 21 is absorbed by the filter part 20.

It has been found that the cause of this is that the bottom surface ofthe filter part 20 does not intimately contact the air flow controlelement, which produces, between the air flow control element and thebottom surface of the filter part 20, a gap forming a path of air flowfrom the cigarette part 21 through the filter part 20, so that when thesmoker inhales, a part of vaporized nicotine rides on the air flow topass through the filter part 20, causing the nicotine contained in theair flow to be absorbed by the filter part 20.

Thus, as shown in an appearance view of FIG. 10, the present inventorhas improved the rod 8 of the air flow control element 3-2 to a rod 81.The rod 81 is a cylinder designed to have a depth of at least 2 mm andat most substantially the length of the filter part 20 for housing thefilter part 20. The cylinder has either no or at least one hole 97 at abottom thereof (FIG. 10 shows two).

It has been found that if the hole 97 is not present, the use of the rod81 substantially prevents air flow through the filter part as long asthe front end of the filter is inserted in the cylinder of the rod 81even if the filter cigarette is roughly inserted into the rod, allowingsubstantially 100% of produced nicotine to be brought to the mouth ofthe smoker.

Further, it has been found that if the hole 97 is present, air flow topass through the filter part is produced, enabling a part of producednicotine to be absorbed by the filter, and in addition, the rate atwhich the filter part absorbs the nicotine can be varied by varying thehole diameter of the hole 97.

EXAMPLE 3

FIG. 11 is an appearance view of a novel mouthpiece 1 of EXAMPLE 3 ofthe present application. FIG. 12 is a right side view of FIG. 11. Thismouthpiece is an embodiment of the subject matter of the presentinvention based on the structure of the mouthpiece instead of the airflow control element. The mouthpiece 1 comprises four parts, in which 93is a filter housing part, and has a portion to fit a part 92 as shown ina cross-sectional view of FIG. 13. This portion is rotated by a smokerfor use so that a groove 94 is rotated to match one of holes 95-1, 2, 3.A hole 97 is formed in a central wall of the filter housing part 93. Asshown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 13, the part 92 is designed tofit a part 91 as well, and has the holes 95-1, 2, 3. A right side of thepart 92 is a cover which has two holes 99 of different sizes. When thepart 93 is rotated to allow the groove 94 to match the hole 95-1, a hole99 with a diameter substantially equal to the hole 97 is positionedfacing the hole 97. When the groove 94 is allowed to match the hole95-2, a hole 99 formed with a diameter of about half that of the hole 97is positioned facing the hole 97. When the groove 94 is allowed to matchthe hole 95-3, no hole 99 is positioned facing the hole 97. The smokercan rotate the part 93 to allow the groove 94 to match one of the holes95-1, 2, 3 so as to change the rate at which the filter absorbsnicotine. Further, it is advantageous to use, for the part 92, a resindifferent in color from the part 91 because, while a filter cigaretteset in the mouthpiece needs to be inserted beyond the part 92 wheninserted into the non-combustion smoking tool, the color change allowsthe smoker to know at a glance how far it should be inserted. Inaddition, there is an advantage that, while the cigarette guide tube 10needs to be inserted beyond the part 92 when the above is used incombination with the cigarette guide tube 10 as described later, thecolor change allows the smoker to know at a glance how far it should beinserted.

The parts 93, 91, 90 are preferably made from a little flexible resinmaterial such as polypropylene and silicone resin. By making the parts93, 91, 90 from flexible polypropylene, silicone resin or the like, itbecomes easy for the insertion opening 103 to fit the part 91 when thefilter cigarette set in the mouthpiece is inserted into thenon-combustion smoking tool, and it becomes also easy for the cigaretteguide tube, when set, to fit the mouthpiece, and in addition, it gives apleasant mouth feel when the smoker inserts the mouthpiece 1 into themouth.

The part 91 is designed to fit the part 92. Further, as shown, the part91 is made to increase slightly in diameter toward the mouth. Thus, whenthe filter cigarette set in the mouthpiece is inserted into thenon-combustion smoking tool 100 or 101, the insertion opening 103, evenwith variations in diameter, fits the mouthpiece with no gap at anappropriate position upon insertion. Further, also when the cigaretteguide tube 10 described later is attached to the mouthpiece, thecigarette guide tube 10, even with variations in inner diameter, can fitthe mouthpiece with no gap at an appropriate position upon insertion.However, if the insertion opening 103 and the inner diameter of thecigarette guide tube 10 are accurately made, it is not necessary thatthe diameter of the part 91 increases slightly in diameter toward themouth.

In the outside of the mouthpiece 1 shown in FIG. 11, the groove 94 witha depth smaller than the wall thickness of the filter housing part 93 isformed as shown, and has an end connected at the part 92 to hollows 96by the holes 95-1, 2, 3. Further, slits 98 are formed in the filterhousing part 93. The slits 98 facilitate insertion of the cigaretteguide tube 10 when the filter housing part 93 is pressed by fingers tovirtually reduce the diameter upon insertion of the cigarette guide tube10 into the mouthpiece 1 as described later.

EXAMPLE 4

FIG. 14 is a mouthpiece of EXAMPLE 4 of the present application. Thisnovel mouthpiece is also an embodiment of the subject matter of thepresent invention as obtained by changing the structure. A firstdifference is that the filter housing part 93 has been changed to a tube93-1. The tube 93-1 is, for example, like a straw made of polypropylene,and is formed to just fit the projecting portion of the part 92, while 4is a filter housing part. The tube 93-1 has an outer diameter smallerthan the outer diameter of the fat portion of the part 92. A cover orbottom is formed on the projecting portion (on the filter side) of thepart 92. The hole 97 to change the rate at which the filter absorbsnicotine is formed in this cover or bottom. Holes 95 are formed with thepart 92 and the tube 93-1 combined and fit together.

Once formed, the area of the windows 33 of FIG. 3(SIC FIG. 4), or thearea between the gear teeth of FIG. 4(SIC FIG. 5), or the diameter ofthe holes 7 of FIG. 7, or the diameter of the holes 95 of FIG. 13described above cannot be changed by the smoker. Thus, if the smokerwants to change the amount of air flow when smoking, these componentsthemselves have to be changed. In contrast, EXAMPLE 4 as shown in FIG.14 is highly advantageous because the holes 95 are formed with the part92 and the tube 93-1 combined and fit together, so that the smoker canallow the holes 95 to have an arbitrary opening area by slightlyrotating the tube 93-1 after the smoker combines the tube 93-1 and thepart 92 (the amount of air flow then being determined by the diameter ofthe holes 95), making it possible for the smoker to smoke with a desiredamount of air. A second difference is that the part 90 and the part 91are not straight and have an angle. This is advantageous because if thisangle is about 5 degrees to 50 degrees, the bending allows thenon-combustion smoking tool to be positioned below eye level when thesmoker uses the mouthpiece and the non-combustion smoking tool, thusenabling the smoker to smoke comfortably, and also allows the outlineshape of the pipe-type non-combustion smoking tool 101 to much resemblea real pipe. Note that this angle can either be provided between thepart 91 and the part 90, or can be formed by bending a portion of thepart 92, to obtain the same effect.

FIG. 15 is an appearance view immediately before a filter cigarette setin the mouthpiece 1 shown in FIG. 14 is inserted into a pipe-typenon-combustion smoking tool 101. It has a part 102 which corresponds towhere tobacco leaves would be placed in the case of a normal pipe, andwhich is a display part for displaying various information by guidinglight from a light emitting diode 118 which is driven by a drive circuitto blink. Alternatively, it can be designed to detect inhalation (by adetector not shown) upon smoking/inhalation, allowing it to light red asif upon smoking/inhalation by normal lighting.

FIG. 16 is an axial cross-sectional view where a filter cigarette set inthe mouthpiece 1 shown in FIG. 14 is inserted into the pipe-typenon-combustion smoking tool 101. When inserted into the non-combustionsmoking tool 101, a cigarette part 21 is heated by the heating heater110 or by high temperature air produced by the coil part to vaporizenicotine. If the hole 97 is not present, the vaporized nicotine goes outof the wrapping paper of the tobacco and passes through a space formedbetween the outside of the wrapping paper and the inside of theinsulation material 9 or the inside of the non-combustion smoking tool101, and then passes through a space formed between the tube 93-1 andthe inside of the non-combustion smoking tool 101, and further passesthrough the holes 95 and through the hollows 96, allowing substantially100% of the produced nicotine to be brought to the mouth of the smoker.The insertion opening 103 and the part 91 of the mouthpiece are formedto tightly fit together to prevent air leakage.

Further, if the hole 97 is present, the vaporized nicotine is partiallyabsorbed by the filter when the smoker inhales because it is brought tothe mouth of the smoker through the filter part 20 and through the hole97. Consequently, the rate at which the filter absorbs produced nicotineis changed by the hole diameter of the hole 97, making it possible forthe smoker to inhale nicotine with a desired concentration.

FIG. 17 is an axial cross-sectional view where a filter cigarette set inthe mouthpiece 1 shown in FIG. 13 is inserted into the non-combustionsmoking tool 101. It is different from FIG. 16 in that it has an angleof 5 degrees to 50 degrees at the neck of the pipe while the part 90 andthe part 91 of the mouthpiece 1 are straight through. Thus, the heater110 is bent at the same angle. In addition, the heater has no coil part,and, needless to say, can be similarly bent even if it has a coil part.

It has been found from experiment results that ease of insertion andease of use are facilitated, if the inner diameter size of the filterhousing part 4 of FIG. 3, FIG. 8, FIG. 11 and FIG. 14 and of the rod 81of FIG. 10, which are specific drawings according to the presentinvention described above, is finished to the outer diameter of theinserted filter plus 0.01 mm to 1.0 mm. Besides, their depth is designedto be at least 2 mm and at most about the same as the length of theinserted filter part.

Further, the axial hole 32 of the air flow control element 3 of FIG. 4,the axial hole 38 of FIG. 5, the air flow control elements 3-1, 3-2 ofFIG. 7 and the parts 92 of FIGS. 13, 14 can be drilled inside to createa space for housing various fragrances to produce a tobacco flavor, amenthol flavor, a mint flavor, a lemon flavor and so on, or materials toproduce water. FIG. 9 shows that the rod 8 of the air flow controlelement 3-1 is drilled inside to create a space 12. The axial hole 32 ofFIG. 4 and the axial hole 38 of FIG. 5 can be used as spaces for placingthese. This is advantageous because by placing fragrances and materialsto produce water in these spaces, a smoker can smoke more comfortablysince the flavors of these fragrances and water in addition to nicotinevaporized from the tobacco leaves enter the mouth of the smoker uponsmoking using a non-combustion smoking tool.

Further, the hole 35 of FIG. 4, the axial hole 38 of FIG. 5, thediameter of the rod 8 of FIG. 8, the hole 97 of FIG. 13 and the hole 97of FIG. 14 have a function to determine the rate at which the filterabsorbs nicotine upon smoking. Normally, the mouthpiece 1 is made as amolded product of plastic or the like. If the wall thickness of themolded product is made small, and the internal components with them arecolored or made of colored materials, it is easy to make the mouthpiece1 so that the colors of the components, when inserted therein, can berecognized from outside. If this is used to make three kinds of themdifferent in nicotine absorption rate, large, medium and smallabsorption rates, that are made e.g. of pink, orange and red colors,then the smoker can see from the outside which one of the air flowcontrol elements with a certain nicotine absorption rate is placed inthe mouthpiece 1, so that the smoker can easily understand it.

Further, it has been found from experiment results that the total areaof the windows 33 of FIG. 4, the total area between the gear teeth ofFIG. 5, the total hole area of the holes 7 and the area of the holediameter of the hole 95 of FIG. 13 or FIG. 14 exert a significantinfluence when the smoker smokes. If the hole diameter is too small, astrong inhalation force is required when smoking. If it is too large, aproblem arises in that the speed of inhalation by the smoker exceeds thespeed of vaporization of nicotine when the tobacco leaves are heated bythe heater, causing the speed of vaporization of nicotine to beinsufficient. It has been found from experiment results that the totalarea or the area of the total hole diameter is preferably 0.01 square mmto 12 square mm.

Further, the smoker can change the rate at which the filter absorbsvaporized nicotine, if a mechanism shown as an example in FIG. 25 isused instead of the air flow control element B 34 of FIG. 4, and insteadof the rod 8 which is shown in the element 3-2 of FIG. 7 and which hasan outer diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the filter, andinstead of the cover of the part 92 of FIG. 14. More specifically, adisc A and a disc B have elongated holes 53 formed therein, and thediscs A, B are designed to be rotatable about a shaft 50 as a center.When they are stopped where the two elongated holes exactly match,maximum absorption occurs in the filter. As the matching area of the twoelongated holes is decreased by rotating the discs, the rate at whichthe filter absorbs nicotine decreases. When there is no matching area,substantially 100% of the vaporized nicotine is brought to the smoker.

Further monitoring has been conducted using the various mouthpiecesaccording to the present invention above, and it has been found thatthere is another problem. The problem will be described in detail usingFIG. 6. When a smoker inhales upon smoking, air enters through the airinlet 105, and passes through the section of the circuit, and thenenters the thermal insulation material 9 from an opening on the rightside of the thermal insulation material 9, and further goes through thespace between the inner surface of the thermal insulation material 9 andthe outside of the wrapping paper along with nicotine heated andvaporized by the heater 110 so as to be brought to the mouth of thesmoker through the space formed between the outside of the filter part21 and the inside of the mouthpiece 1 and through the windows 33 of theair flow control element 3. However, in order to ensure this path, it isrequired that the outer diameter of the mouthpiece 1 tightly fits theinsertion opening 103 to a level to prevent air leakage, and that theleft end portion of the thermal insulation material 9 intimatelycontacts an inner surface of the tool 100 to a level to prevent airleakage as well. Normally, this condition therefor cannot be achievedunless a rubber packing is placed in this position.

In the example shown in FIG. 16, when the smoker inhales upon smoking,air enters through the air inlet 105, and enters the thermal insulationmaterial 9 from an opening on the right side of the thermal insulationmaterial 9, and then goes through the space formed between the innersurface of the thermal insulation material 9 and the outside of thewrapping paper along with nicotine heated and vaporized by the heater110 so as to be brought to the mouth of the smoker after going throughthe space formed between the inner surface of the tool 101 and theoutside of the wrapping paper, and through the space formed between theinner surface of the tool 101 and the outside of the tube 93-1, andfurther through the holes 95 and the hollows 96. However, in order toensure this path, it is required that the outer diameter of themouthpiece 1 tightly fits the insertion opening 103 to a level toprevent air leakage.

Further, it has been found that there is another big problem. If thereis a difference of 2 mm or more between the outer diameter of thewrapping paper and the inner diameter of the thermal insulation material9, or between the outer diameter of the wrapping paper and the innerdiameter of the mouthpiece smoking tool for the non-combustion smokingtool, then a larger amount of air out of air entering through the airinlet 105 passes outside the wrapping paper without passing in thecigarette part 21. Thus, vaporized nicotine has been found to be dilutedto have a lighter taste.

In order to solve the problem described above, the present inventor hasconceived an idea of using a combination of a cigarette guide tube andthe mouthpiece. FIG. 18 is an axial cross-sectional view where a filtercigarette is set in the mouthpiece 1 of EXAMPLE 3 shown in FIG. 13 and acigarette guide tube 10 is set therein. In EXAMPLE 1, the cigaretteguide tube can be either outside or inside the mouthpiece. In EXAMPLES2, 3 and 4, the cigarette guide tube is inserted outside the mouthpiece.

The inner diameter of the cigarette guide tube 10 shown in FIG. 18 isdesigned to be the outer diameter of the inserted filter cigarette plus0.01 mm to 1.6 mm. It is advantageous to finish the inner diameter ofthe cigarette guide tube to this size because when a heater of the toolof the earlier application of the present application is inserted intothe cigarette part 21, the outer diameter of the cigarette part 21increases a little, making it harder for it to fall out of the cigaretteguide tube. Otherwise, as shown in FIG. 19, a further cigarette guidetube A 13 can be inserted to occupy the space between the outer diameterof the cigarette part 21 and the inner diameter of the cigarette guidetube 10, making it even harder for it to fall out, and reducing theamount of air passing therethrough so as to allow most of air to pass inthe cigarette part 21. Instead of inserting the cigarette guide tube A,the inner diameter of the cigarette guide tube 10 in this position canbe reduced to obtain similar effects.

In addition, practically the cigarette guide tube preferably has a wallthickness of 0.01 mm to 0.4 mm, and is made of materials such as metaland metal alloy materials including stainless steel, copper, brass andaluminum, or plastic materials including polypropylene and ABS, orglass. In particular, it is clear that such a structure can be usedbecause, in the tool of the earlier application of the presentapplication, a heater is inserted into the inserted the cigarette toheat the cigarette from the center, but that such a cigarette guide tubecannot be used in the non-combustion smoking tool disclosed in PatentDocument 3 or Patent Document 4 which uses a tubular heater to heat theinserted cigarette from outside.

The cigarette guide tube becomes more convenient in practical use if itis made of a transparent material of plastic, glass or the like becausethis makes it possible to check whether or not the heater is insertedthe cigarette.

Further, it is advantageous to use a transparent resin to make thehousing of the pipe-type non-combustion smoking tool 101 so as to make adrive circuit with a built-in heater transparent and visible, becausethis makes it possible to determine from the outside whether the heateris correctly inserted into the cigarette part 21, and because thisprovides an attractive product.

Further, according to the tool of the earlier application of the presentapplication, the heater is inserted inside the inserted cigarette toheat the tobacco leaves, so that the temperature of the outside(wrapping paper) of the cigarette is 150° C. or lower, making itpossible to use a plastic material as a transparent material for thematerial of the cigarette guide tube 10 instead of a glass tube. Thisallows it to be a very safe tool which, in contrast to glass, would notbreak if the tool should fall.

Further, compared to the shape of a normal filter cigarette, the tool100 of the earlier application of the present application and thepipe-type non-combustion smoking tool 101 are by far larger in shape.This may motivate a person using these tools to want to take out, fromthe non-combustion smoking tool, the inserted filter cigarette and smokeit while it is heated enough to produce nicotine. Since the innerdiameter of the cigarette guide tube is designed to be the outerdiameter of the inserted filter cigarette plus 0.01 mm to 1.6 mm, it isharder for the inserted cigarette to fall out of the cigarette guidetube when the outer diameter of the cigarette increases a little due tothe influence of the heater inserted into the cigarette. However, asshown by reference numeral 11 in FIG. 18, the design of the cigaretteguide tube which has an end 11 bent inward as shown is advantageousbecause the filter cigarette inside can be prevented from ever fallingout of the mouthpiece with the attached cigarette guide tube when themouthpiece with the attached cigarette guide tube is taken out of thetool.

Further, if a mouthpiece with an attached cigarette guide tube formed bycombining a cigarette guide tube 10 and a mouthpiece 1 as shown in FIG.20 is used, a filterless cigarette, a cigar or tobacco leaves for ahand-rolled cigarette can be similarly used instead to enable the use ofa mouthpiece with an attached cigarette guide tube, although the effectof nicotine absorption by the filter part is lost. These are shorter inlength than a filter cigarette. Thus, if a spacer 40 is placed thereinwhich has a diameter substantially equal to that of the filter cigaretteand which makes an adjustment to the length substantially equal to thatof the filter cigarette, it is possible to use the mouthpiece with anattached cigarette guide tube in a similar way.

Referring to FIG. 20, if, for example, tobacco leaves such as for ahand-rolled cigarette, instead of the filter cigarette of FIG. 18, areput in a space 42 formed between the cigarette guide tube 10 and thespacer 40 so as to be inserted into the non-combustion smoking tool 100or the pipe-type non-combustion smoking tool 101, it is possible toallow the heater to heat the tobacco leaves and vaporize nicotine fromthe tobacco leaves to enable smoking. A hole or through-hole 41 is aspace to accommodate a redundant part of the heater if the space 42 isshort when the heater is inserted. This is not necessary if the space 42is longer than the heater. Further, by placing various fragrances andmaterials to produce water in the hole or through-hole 41, the smokercan smoke more comfortably since the flavors of the fragrances and waterare added to nicotine. Although the hole or through-hole 41 ends halfwayin the spacer 40 in FIG. 22(SIC FIG. 20), the hole 41 can be formed overthe entire length of the spacer 40.

Further, FIG. 21 shows that the cigarette guide tube 10 of FIG. 18 isshortened in the entire length by “L” by removing the inward bending atthe end portion. It is needless to say that instead of inserting aheater into the cigarette part 21, the cigarette part 21 can be heatedfrom the outside of the part “L” or only the end portion of thecigarette part 21 can be heated by using a heater so as to vaporizenicotine from the cigarette part 21 and enable the smoker to similarlyinhale nicotine. In other words, the combination of the cigarette guidetube and the mouthpiece has an advantage that it can use the method ofheating the cigarette part from outside or heating only an end portionof the cigarette part, other than inserting a heater into the cigarettepart to heat the tobacco leaves.

FIG. 22 is an axial cross-sectional view when a filter cigarette set inthe mouthpiece 1 shown in FIG. 14 with a cigarette guide tube 10 settherein, is inserted into the pipe-type non-combustion smoking tool 101.When a smoker inhales, air enters from the air inlet 105 through anopening on the right side of the thermal insulation material 9, andenters the cigarette guide tube through an end portion 11 of thecigarette guide tube 10, and then flows, along with vaporized nicotine,through a space formed between an inner wall of the cigarette guide tubeand an outer wall of the tube 93-1 so as to be brought to the mouth ofthe smoker through the holes 95 and through the hollows 96. Thisindicates that the presence of a gap between the insertion opening 103and the cigarette guide tube does not influence the smoking air flow,and the use of the mouthpiece with the attached cigarette guide tube isadvantageous because there is no strict requirement for dimensionalaccuracy of the tool, making it very easy to make the tool.

Furthermore, even in the absence of the air inlet 105 being made, whenthe smoker inhales, air passes through the gap between the insertionopening 103 and the cigarette guide tube, and passes through the spaceformed between the outside of the cigarette guide tube 10 and the insideof the non-combustion smoking tool and through the space formed betweenit and the inside of the thermal insulation material so as to enter thecigarette guide tube through the end portion 11 and so as to be broughtto the mouth of the smoker along with vaporized nicotine. This air flowis very effective to cool the cigarette guide tube and the thermalinsulation material. Further, the presence of a gap allowed between theinsertion opening 103 and the cigarette guide tube is also advantageousbecause the insertion opening 103 of the non-combustion smoking tool isnot required to extend to where the mouthpiece is located, so that inFIG. 25(SIC FIG. 22), the pipe-type non-combustion smoking tool 101 canbe shorted in length to be able to hold the thermal insulation material9, making the tool small in its entirety and convenient to carry.

FIG. 23 shows a drive circuit 130 with a built-in heater, which is builtin the pipe-type non-combustion smoking tool 101. The drive circuit 130with the built-in heater comprises a heater 110 and two printed circuitboards 111 placed to hold its sleeve part 122 therebetween. Mounted onthe printed circuit boards 111 are an input connector 112, a switch 113,a present variable resistor 115 for setting the heating temperature ofthe heater, a microcomputer 116 with a written drive software, an outputtransistor 117 for supplying power to the heater, an LED 118 forindicating the operation mode, a connector 114 for electricallyconnecting the upper and lower printed circuit boards, and others suchas resistors and capacitors. Written in the drive software is a softwareto receive inputs such as an input voltage, a set value of the presetvariable resistor, a set value of the switch, a measured value of theamount of vaporized nicotine, a measured value of ambient temperaturewhere the tool is used, and the like to control a voltage waveformsupplied to the heater.

FIG. 24 is an appearance view of the heater 110. It has an end portion119 which is formed in a semicircular shape or at an acute angle tofacilitate its insertion into tobacco leaves, and which is located wherea heating wire of the heater is not present. The heating wire is placedin a linear part 120 and a coil part 121. The sleeve part 122 is wherethe heating wire and a lead wire 123 are connected together. Althoughthe coil part 121 shown in the figure has 1.5 turns, the one actuallyused has a certain number of turns between 0.5 turn and 4.5 turns,depending on the drive voltage used. Further, if it is desired to reducethe drive voltage, a heater consisting only of the linear part withoutthe coil part 121 may be used.

While FIG. 15 shows an appearance view of the pipe-type non-combustionsmoking tool 101, it is needless to say that the appearance of thenon-combustion smoking tool is not limited to those shown by 100 or 101,and those with any appearance can be used, if they accommodate a driveunit 130 with a built-in heater as shown in FIG. 23.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention relates to a mouthpiece which enables a smoker totake in an amount of nicotine vaporized from tobacco leaves adapted tothe amount which it desires, by combining the mouthpiece withnon-combustion smoking tools which make it possible to use acommercially available filter cigarette or cigar in the form as it isand to inhale nicotine contained in the tobacco leaves without burningit, and which were filed by the present applicant, or by combining themouthpiece with other non-combustion smoking tools (those which heat acigarette from outside or those which heat an end of a cigarette).

DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE NUMERALS

1 Mouthpiece

2 Inhalation inlet

3 Air flow control element

3-1 Another air flow control element

3-2 Another air flow control element

4 Filter housing part

6 Slit

7 Hole

8 Rod

9 Thermal insulation material

10 Cigarette Guide tube

11 End of cigarette guide tube

12 Space

13 Cigarette guide tube A

20 Filter part

21 Cigarette part

31 Air flow control element A

32 Axial hole

33 Window

34 Air flow control element B

35 Hole

36 Air flow control element with another shape

37 Gear teeth

38 Axial hole

40 Spacer

41 hole or through-hole

42 Space

50 Shaft

51 Disc A

52 Disc B

53 Elongated hole

81 Axial rod

90 Part of mouthpiece

91 Part of mouthpiece

92 Part of mouthpiece

93 Filter housing part

93-1 Tube

94 Groove

95-1 Hole

95-2 Hole

95-3 Hole

96 Hollow

97 Hole

98 Slit

99 Hole

100 Tool of the earlier application of the present application

101 Pipe-type non-combustion smoking tool

102 Display part

103 Insertion opening

104 Neck of pipe

105 Air inlet

110 Heater

111 Printed circuit board

112 Input connector

113 Switch

114 Connector

115 Semi variable resistor

116 Microcomputer

117 Output transistor

118 LED

119 End portion

120 Linear part

121 Coil part

122 Sleeve part

123 Lead wire

130 Drive circuit with built-in heater

1. A mouthpiece used in combination with a non-combustion smoking toolwhich uses a real filter cigarette as it is, and uses a heating heaterto vaporize nicotine contained in tobacco leaves thereof to enableinhalation of the nicotine, wherein the mouthpiece comprises an air flowcontrol structure or an air flow control element to allow the rate atwhich the filter absorbs the vaporized nicotine to be varied betweenzero and an arbitrary rate.
 2. The mouthpiece according to claim 1,wherein the air flow control structure or the air flow control elementcomprises a structure which can hold a fragrance or a materialcontaining water.
 3. The mouthpiece according to claim 1, which is usedin combination with a cigarette guide tube to fit the mouthpiece.
 4. Themouthpiece according to claim 3, further comprising a spacer insertedtherein which has a diameter substantially equal to that of the filtercigarette and which serves to make an adjustment to the lengthsubstantially equal to that of the filter cigarette so as to enable afilterless cigarette, a cigar or tobacco leaves to be put in thecigarette guide tube for use, wherein the spacer can be designed to holda fragrance or a material containing water.
 5. The mouthpiece accordingto claim 1, which is used in combination with the non-combustion smokingtool having an outline shape of a pipe.
 6. The mouthpiece according toclaim 1, which is used in combination with a drive circuit with abuilt-in heater which has mounted thereon a circuit for generating avoltage waveform from an input voltage and a set temperature (which canbe switch input) on printed circuit boards placed to hold a sleeve partof the heater.